The catalysts and constraints of castle-building in Suffolk c.1066-1200

• Main Author: McAndrew, D.
• Published: University College London (University of London) 2008
• Subjects: 942.02
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.631790

Twenty-seven Suffolk castles were built between 1066 and 1200. This thesis summarises the modern multi-disciplinary surveys of six of them, with the objective of identifying their location, morphology, form and function. The majority of Suffolk castles were built between the late 11th and mid-H-century and reached their largest number during the civil wars cA 135-54. However, a few remained operational after c.1200 and those that did are characterised as either royal or baronial caput castles. Moreover, almost all Suffolk castles were originally earth and timber, whereas the surviving examples were rebuilt in stone before c.1300. Therefore, those castles that survived beyond or were established after c.1200 are unrepresentative. Instead this thesis focuses on the period 1066 to 1200, when the more common sub-baronial, earth and timber Suffolk castles were evidenced. Chapter one identifies the key issues. Chapter two critiques each of the current models in castle studies before rejecting them in favour of a modified Annates model. Chapter three identifies the constraints of the tongue duree, identified as the environmental factors, defined as the climate, topography, geology, hydrology and timber supply in the vicinity of the castle. Chapter four identifies societal constraints, which are sub-divided into structural, social and cultural, and focuses on the Abbey of St Edmund's, its cult, viceroyship, ecclesiastical autonomy and barony, its relationship with the new elite and how it influenced castle building. Chapter five focuses on three of the six surveyed castle earthworks to establish the evenement level of the model, which identifies the castle building agents and the specific historical and political context in which these castles were built. Chapter six brings the different sources and levels of data together to offer a new model, a more nuanced definition of a castle and a comprehensive assessment of the conflicting demands of the catalysts and constraints operating upon the construction of castles in Suffolk. In this it is supported by over two hundred figures and plans, numerous tables, a comprehensive set of appendices and an extensive bibliography.